A Lower Mainland teen is on life support after a suspected fentanyl overdose.
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While the 16-year-old recovered and has since been released from hospital, police announced Monday morning that the 17-year-old has died.
A Vancouver police release says that two boys, aged 16 and 17, lost consciousness in a Shelley Park Saturday night after taking what is believed to be fake Oxycontin.
The pills the boys swallowed were green and had the number 80 printed on them.
That follows another incident in North Vancouver on Friday, where a 31-year-old man died after a family member found him in medical distress. He says street drugs can be laced with substances like fentanyl and warns if you buy drugs off the street you don’t know what you’re getting.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
The heroin-like drug has been linked to more than 54 deaths throughout B.C. this year alone. The BC Coroners Service says most people who die from fentanyl are recreational users, not addicts.
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The drug was detected in 25 per cent of overdose deaths in B.C. last year, compared to five per cent in 2012. Just last week, New Westminster police reported a death likely attributed to fentanyl.
